Damascus says Israeli rocket hits south Syria

Syrian state media reports rocket attack near border with Jewish state in area where regime loyalists present.

DAMASCUS - An Israeli rocket hit southern Syria on Thursday, without causing any casualties, Syrian state media said.

The rocket fell in the Tel Bariqa area in Quneitra province, near the border with Israel, state news agency SANA said on its Telegram channel, without providing additional details.

A spokesperson for the Israeli army said it does not comment on foreign reports.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said regime loyalists are present in the area targeted by Thursday's rocket attack.

It did not report any casualties.

The Syrian province of Quneitra includes the Golan Heights, most of which is occupied and annexed by Israel.

Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria, most of them against what it says are Iranian and Hezbollah targets.

Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shiite group that supports Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, who is also backed by Tehran.

Israel says it is determined to prevent its arch-foe Iran from entrenching itself militarily in Syria, where Tehran backs Assad's regime.

The Jewish state insists that it has the right to continue to target positions held by Iran and its ally Hezbollah out of self-defence.

The Syrian conflict has killed more than 370,000 people and drawn in world powers since it started with the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011.